WARSAW, Poland, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka said Thursday his country would not enter into negotiations with the kidnappers of a Polish woman in Iraq.
Belka's remarks were reported on Polish Radio. The station also quoted President Aleksander Kwasniewski as saying Poland had no intention of acceding to the kidnappers' demands that Poland withdraw its 2,400 troops from Iraq.
The al-Jazeera television network earlier released video footage of the woman who is being held by an Islamist group called the Salafi Brigades of Abu Baker Siddik.
Polish authorities have not released the name of the woman but say she has been living in Iraq for decades. There are conflicting reports as to whether the woman has Iraqi or Polish citizenship, or both.
The kidnappers have demanded the release of all Iraqi women held in Iraqi jails as well as the withdrawal of Polish forces.
The Polish government has said its soldiers will remain in Iraq at least until elections, scheduled to take place early next year, are held in that country.
